OH emission and gravity waves (including a breaking wave) in all-sky imagery from Bear Lake, UT

A new type of all-sky imager, using a high resolution, bare CCD, was operated at Utah State University Observatory at Bear Lake Utah during fall-winter, 1991–2 on clear nights. The purpose was to image OH airglow in the 7500–9000 A spectral region for correlative measurements with UARS satellite instrumentation. Examination of some 20 nights of data, some OH wave activity (interpreted as gravity wave phenomena) has been observed on all images and the spatial extent of the waves typically covered the entire viewing field (including overhead). Images are presented including examples of multiple wave sources and a (one time observed) complex breaking wave. The unique chaotic structure, which evolved over an hour, developed a distorted phase front followed by a very short wavelength ‘rippled’ structure.

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